The Witham Staple is
mandated to reflect what is happening in our Lincolnshire community (i.e. the
villages of Aubourn, Bassingham, Carlton le Moorland, Norton Disney, Stapleford,
Thurlby, Witham St Hughs and the rural areas surrounding these villages).

It must be a
very long time indeed since our ancestors came and settled these communities
along the banks of the River Witham. The village names themselves give us some
important clues: several date from the Danish invasion and settlement in this
part of England in the late ninth century. Thurlby, for example, is pure Danish
and, as in the case of Haddington and Bassingham, the name of the settlement
even includes, like a fossil, the name of an individual, and presumably somebody
of some significance at the time: men called Thórulfr, Headda and Bassa
respectively. The suffixes -ham
('homestead’) and -ton or -tun (‘farm’) are Old English, while -by is
Danish and still occurs today in many place-names in Denmark.

Carlton too is
a common place-name in the old Danelaw area of the Midlands and means
‘farmstead or estate of the freemen or ordinary folk’, suggesting that
originally the people here enjoyed a measure of independence from feudal lords;
in fact, it was used by the Anglo-Saxons who were here long before the arrival
of the Danes in this area of England. Carlton le Moorland, appears in the 1086
Domesday Book as Carletune, and eventually takes the affix ‘le Moorland’ which
simply means ‘in the moorland’.

Aubourn, which
appears in the Domesday Book as Aburne, means
‘stream where alder trees grow’. That seems quite apt even though I’m not
sure how many alders as opposed to willows are still to be found along the banks
of the Witham today. The name of the Witham itself is thought to be Celtic or
earlier, that is before the Anglo-Saxons, started arriving in the fifth century;
it’s not clear what it means.

Stapleford,
another common place-name, means a ‘ford marked by a post’. While Norton
(‘village to the north of another’), which is Nortune
in Domesday, adds the manorial affix D’isney or Disney (Isny in 1331) from
the de Isney family, who were originally from Issigny, a village you can still
find in Normandy.Stan Underwood
[WS Oct 2004]

Visitors to St
Michael’s Church will be aware of a small corner con­taining memorabilia of
HMS Bassingham, including the ship’s bell, rung at the beginning of Morning
Service, her ship’s badge, photograph and his­tory.

Bassingham was one of 76
ships of the Inglesham (or Ham) class of inshore minesweepers, whose names were
all chosen from villages ending in -ham.

2004 marks the fiftieth
anniversary of my taking command at the end of her first year’s service. HMS
Bassingham was ‘born’ on 24th July 1951, when her first wood and
non-metallic material was laid down at the famous small-ship builders Vosper
& Thorneycroft at Portsmouth. It took nearly a year, until 24th June 1952,
for her to be ready for launching, and it was not until sixteen months later, on
6th October 1953, that her first crew of three officers and twelve ratings
joined.

I took command thirteen
months later at Plymouth in November 1954, and sailed before Christmas to her
borne base at Harwich, Essex, where we became the Second Senior Officer of the
232nd Minesweeping Squadron in the Inshore Flotilla.

The 232nd was a crack
squadron with a long history, and to spread her expert knowledge to the UK and
NATO countries of Europe, visits were arranged in 1955 to Southend on Sea and
Norwich in view of her inshore capability, and later that year to Belgium,
Holland, Germany, France, Denmark and Norway.

By 1956, I bad received
a promotion appointment and left the ship. Bassingham sailed far away via
Gibraltar to Malta, to prepare for Mediter­ranean operations, leading to the
joint Anglo-French Suez Canal action.

After this service, she
was transferred to the Royal East African Navy, based on the Indian Ocean coast
of Kenya. After two years, she returned to Royal Naval control in the UK where
she was eventually sold to Messrs Pounds shipbreaking yard in Portsmouth.

She remained there for
fourteen years, gradually being used to provide spare parts for others of her
class~ until she was herself broken up in Sep­tember and October 19880, after
28V2 years and only two miles from where she began life in 1951.

Clock
Tower Grant applications have now been submitted for the restoration of the
spire and the chancel roofs. If there are any local groups or individuals
interested in helping to produce a leaflet on the history
of the villages of Aubourn and Haddington, or developing a parish website,
please contact Debbie Parker Parish Clerk (tel: 789630)

Several
local history books are now available on CD price £10 from authors Bill and
Connie Wilson (Tel: 0115 9893098). The books are in A4 format with JPEG images.
Titles include: Aubourn Glimpses, Haddington Gleanings, South Hykeham Interludes.
The Aubourn and Haddington books both
indude a photo of the water mill in full working order. Haddington Gleanings has
a detailed account of the moated site and its owners, and a similar account of
Haddington Hall and its dovecote.

In
co-operation with Helen Ash, the authors are currently researching The Bassingham
Story for publication in November 2004
and would welcome any anecdotal, photographic or documentary contributions about
Bassingham. The book will be printed in A5 format, about 100 pages, well
illustrated, and cover all periods from prehistory to modem times.

[WS
Jun 2003]

The Bassingham Story
- Book Launch

This
book has been exhaustively researched by Bill and Connie Wilson and tells the
story of Bassingham from pre-historic times to the present day. It is to be
accompanied by a database of 500 key historical
documents and 2000 photographs. The book, CD and a Bassingham screensaver was launched in the Village
Hall on 18th November
[WS Oct 2004].

Researching
family histories is very popular, and many members of the Disney family come
from far and near to visit Norton Disney Church in quest of their ancestors.
Hugh Disney has written a book that is a significant addition to the history of
this family, who were Lords of the Manor here for five hundred years. It is
entitled:

Disneys
of Norton Disney 1150 to 1461 and can be seen at the home of Rosemary Meredith,
Tonges Way, Main Street, Norton Disney. It costs £12 and can be ordered from
Hugh Disney, 121 Cumnor Hill, Oxford 0X2 9JA. [WS Nov 2002]

An
example of a letter written by Bassingham GP Dr Osborne Johnson to a
patient-client. They were often accompanied as in this case [published here 50
years after it was written], by one of his own delightful sketches.[Many of which have been used as front covers to The Witham
Staple over the years][WS
Oct 2002]

Dr
Osbourne Johnson –
was a well known and respected figure of the village between the years of 1860
and 1952. He died as oldest village resident in 1952 in Ivy House, the house in
which he was born ninety-two years previously (see obituary in Lincolnshire
Chronicle 20 December 1952).

He had
left his home village in his youth, and gone to study medicine to be able to
qualify as a doctor. In 1894 he became a house surgeon and also an assistant to
a doctor based in Lancaster. He returned to Bassingham in 1903 and continued the
village’s general medical practice started by his father in 1831 and left to
him by his father and brother. Ivy House, a beautiful old house located at the
junction of Hall Wath and High Street, remained the village doctor’s surgery
until he retired, aged 84, in 1946. During the early years of his practice he
travelled many times by horse and trap to visit his patients. He later used a
motorcycle and then a car.

Dr.
Osbourne Johnson still remained living and taking an active involvement in the village
after his retirement. His hobbies included sport, painting, wild life and
gardening. He was part of the conservative club, and president of the cricket
team.Many villagers knew him and
he claimed that his aim in life was to ‘ be the friend of all, rich or
poor’.

His
popularity was shown at his funeral, when the church was full, and more than a
hundred mourners attended.

He continues to have an
influence in the village because his sketches of buildings and wildlife in the
area are frequently printed on the front cover of the Witham Staple magazine and
are sold as postcards and on notelets depicting old village scenes.

More of his sketches are shown below.
Some of these were kindly sent to the Witham Staple website in May 2011 by
Eileen Bertin from Kettering. When clearing her
parent's house and she came across some letters and sketches sent to her father
by Dr Osbourne Johnson. Her father's family had originated from
Lincolnshire:

The sketch above, in which the original pencil lines can be
seen, has written on the reverse side "This is the first sketch, but I think
the other is better. O.J."

A good few years ago my
father, who lived near Newark, met an old man who I believe was living in a
mill. Soon he was to move to another property so had to get rid of all his
'treasures'. I don't know any more of the circumstances but Dad told me that he
bought a couple of adzes and some old printing blocks. Dad didn't want the
printing blocks but thought that they would be lost forever if he didn't buy
them! The printing blocks were passed on to me. For many years they sat in their
newspaper wrapping. About twenty years ago I decided to have prints made. I took
the blocks to a local 'old school' printer - just to see what they were. The
printer was pleased to be able to do some 'proper printing' and expressed his
delight at how well the blocks printed.

I have thirteen printing
blocks of various pictures by Dr Osborne Johnson but only recently did it occur
to me that I might find out more about them online! Looking online I discovered
The Witham Staple and there I found the picture of Bassingham Church just as it
is on my block!!

Details of the blocks are
as follows:

A landscape. No signature, no title. Block size
172x105mm. The back of the block is inscribed 'Dr Johnson'.

'The Farmers Turnout' Signed O Johnson. Block size
210x125mm. The back of the block is inscribed /Dr Johnson'.

A large oak tree and gate. No signature, no title.
Block size 92x97mm. This looks like a photographic block as it
appears to be made up of dots.

Church and churchyard. Grave in foreground appears to
read JO??? BEAN. No title, no signature Block size 115x91mm. This appears to
be another 'photographic' block. The back of the block is inscribed 'Dr
Johnson Bassingham pd 12/3/43.

A large bull. No title but signed O Johnson. Another
'photographic' block. Block size 115x130mm.

Two small bodies above a person on horseback with a
sword!! No title, no date. Block size 50x60mm. Back of block
inscribed 'Dr Johnson Bassingham.

A fortified house. No title but signed Osborne Johnson
dated July 22 1945. Block size 125x87mm.

I have answered Jenny's
queries about the pictures but I should like to draw your attention to the book
of drawings which I have at my house, 18 Lincoln Road. If you wish to see these
please call. I am also storing the pictures which were in the Heritage Room and
I shall be pleased to let you see them.

I cannot identify the
"lady smoker" but the "Farmer's turnout" is a carthorse in its glory with brass
medals and chains. First Prize, Newark and Bassingham 1951 owner Mr. Medley.
This picture was drawn by Dr. Johnson at Bassingham Gymkhana 28th July 1951,
when he was 90 years of age.

With
the consent of Mr Geoff Nelson, Chairman of Stapleford Parish Meeting, I intend during the next year or two to research and write about
the history of Stapleford. Therefore, if you have anything which you think might
help me to piece the history together and you are willing to share it with
others (photographs, anecdotes, personal papers, recollections and so on),
please contact me: Arland Dufton, Cherrytree Cottage, The Paddocks, Stapleford,
Lincoln LN6 9LH (Tel: 788135).

Aubourn: owned by Robert de Tosny and Berenga from him. There is a church, a mill
and a fishery with 1000 eels.

Haddington:
owned by Robert de Tosny and Warn from him. Baldwin the Fleming. A church.
[where?]

Thurlby: owned by Odo the Arblaster and Countess Judith.

Bassingham:King’s land. Two mills, a church

Bassingham’s
Domesday mills:
the most likely site for one of them is as shown on the map [see 1893 map of
walks], since there used to be a stream passing it. The only other site is where
today there is a weir opposite 5 Hallfield. [NB These were of course water
mills, since there were no windmills in England until the late 12th century.]

Bassingham
& Thurlby Jubilee Celebration:
Thank you to all who helped in so many ways with the celebrations on 3rd June in
Bassingham, and to everybody who came along and helped to make the party. We are
particularly grateful for the trailer provided by Pykett Bros as a platform for
the band and disco. It was the high spot of the event. Thank you.

Carlton
le Moorland Jubilee Celebrations:
a big thank-you to all who helped with the Jubilee Celebrations: in particular
to John Brogan and Margaret Hutchinson for all their work for the Disco; to
Diane and Ian Swales, and John Mitchelson for their organisation of the
tremendously enjoyable Street Party; and to Harveys of Bassingham for donating
the beacon stand. An altogether most memorable and enjoyable village event. A
big thank-you to George Bainborough for repainting the seat on Norton Disney
Road in celebration of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, and for the lovely flower
beds behind it. Thank You

Aubourn
& Haddlngton Jubilee Celebrations:
a combined effort by the Village Hall Committee, the Parish Council, and the
Church. Some 300 people came to Aubourn Hall gardens on the 2nd and enjoyed
various activities in glorious weather. Excellent teas were provided and the
archive exhibition provided much discussion. The Parish Council Chairman
presented souvenir Jubilee coins to all the children of the Parish.

Thanks
to Mr C Neville for hosting the party, John Long and Tony Kullich for their hard
work before, during and after the event; Malcolm Coulson for printing the
invitations, John Woodman for assembling the exhibition, and churchwardens Cohn
Roberts and Rosina Gough for organising the festival evensong, taken by the Revd
Nick Buck, which ended the day. And a big thank-you to the many helpers, who
worked so hard on the day. It was truly a village celebration. Incidentally, £181
was raised for the Ambucopter and LIVES.

Bassingham
Primary School

Jubilee
Celebrations On Thursday 30th May, everybody in the school joined in the Jubilee
Celebrations by dressing up in red, white and blue. Many children had their
faces painted with the Union Jack, and at lunchtime they all had a party lunch
in the school hall, which was decorated with bunting. At the end of the
afternoon, every child was presented with a commemorative Jubilee china mug,
courtesy of Bassingham PTA. [WS
Jul 2002]

We
have sand in abundance at Norton Disney but other associa­tions with Bay Watch
are difficult to find. So what is it about the vil­lage that attracts the
visitor? We are aware from the church visitors’ book that people come from far
and wide. We understand that some, like Walt Disney in 1949, visit for the
purpose of exploring their family connections and others return, having been
stationed near here during their military service and the village remains in
their memory. The church and St Vincent arms are reasons in them­selves, but so
is our association with the triumphant Admiral Sir John Jervis, who in 1797
defeated a Spanish fleet off the coast of Portugal and was created Viscount St
Vincent. The magnificent avenue of horse chestnuts has been a feature of the
village for over 100 years, having been planted in 1897 to commemorate the
centenary of the battle of Cape St Vincent. We clearly have a rich heritage, and
the Parish Council is endeavouring to ensure that it is not lost in the path of
progress. We are also aware of the interest of our visitors in the current
lifestyle of villagers and are keen to inform them of our activities. Our talk
of surfing, therefore, arises from our hope that we can promote tourism to the
village through the Internet.

When
Charlie Rudkin constructed his web-site www.ndstory.com
[site closed in 2010],
it became apparent that there are a large number of people, worldwide who chose
to visit it. His own keen interest in the history of village has enabled him to
provide a wealth of information in the form of ar­ticles and photographs that
inform and attract the media visitor. Re­cently, Charlie has provided links to
a new web-site that he is putting together. This will
contain other general in­terest and specific tourism-related pages that we need
your help in developing. The intention would be to change the pages regularly,
so visitors can find new interest on each visit. Our hope therefore, is that you
will feel able to share poetry, photographs and other memorabilia or write short
accounts of your impressions of life or your activities in and around this
village. We know that the interest in us comes from young and old, and therefore
hope that children will be as ready to be involved as mature villagers will.
Please send your contributions to Charlie Rudkin, 2 Disney Court.....[WS Jun 2002]

ARE
you interested in the history of Carlton le Moorland? Do you know much about its
history or where to find out informa­tion locally? Do you perhaps have stones,
documents or photographs you would like to share with others interested in the
village’s history? If so, why not join a local history group.

Richard
Parker is currently finding out if there are enough people willing to meet,
discuss local history and carry out research into particular aspects that might
interest them. He would be pleased to hear from anybody interested in forming a
local history group and would hope to be able to hold the first meeting in
February. For further details, contact Richard at 28 High Street (Tel: 789630). [WS
Feb 2002]

Jane Harrison,
Photography Co-ordinator, North Kesteven District Council, has offered help in
collecting and recording photographic images which document local history. If
you are interested, please contact Jane Harrison (Tel: 01529 414155) or Helen
Ash (788222). [WS April 2001]

Mrs
Smith’s Cottage, Navenby is a small museum owned by NKDC and run by a group of
local volunteers. It preserves a typical simple cottage of the mid nineteenth
century, with all the artefacts of one person’s life. Hilda Smith lived In the
cottage from when she was a baby in the I 890s until her death in 1995. Because
she resisted change, the cottage remains in its original condition and provides
a fascinating step back into the past. It is open at weekends from March to
early December, and additional days during school holidays. As well as staffing
the cottage, volunteers have an opportunity to take part in historical research,
preparation of displays and conservation of artefacts.

Friends
of the Cottage pay £5 a year and receive regular newsletters and preferential
admission fees; volunteers make their contribution in time and enthusiasm and so
pay nothing. Training is provided to enable volunteers to become guides. An
informal meeting is to be arranged so that your questions can be answered. If
you are interested in being part of this unusual community effort, please
contact Sleaford Tourism Information Centre (Tel: 01529 414294).[WS Jun 2004]

George
Marsh's account of this wartime incident, which he says was seared into his
memory as a toddler who witnessed it, is the most graphic reminder of the
awesome cost in human lives of the Second World War. It also gives us some idea
of what people in this part of Lincolnshire lived through, day by day, during
those sombre years.

At 02.40 hours on the 5th November 1944, Stirling EH977 crashed at Wirelocks
Farm, Bassingham Fen, killing all seven crew members. The bomber had taken off
from RAF Swinderby on a training flight to the Wainfleet Bombing Range when it
developed engine trouble. It turned back towards Swinderby, losing height and
crashed into the Sand Syke Drain, bursting into flames. The crew consisted of a
pilot, navigator, flight engineer, bomb aimer, wireless operator and two air
gunners. One air gunner is buried in Thurlby Churchyard. I often ask myself if
the aircraft had cleared the drain, would the crew have survived, as the
adjacent field was a flat grass field. The answer is almost certainly not, as
large flat fields in Lincolnshire had had eighteen-foot-high posts erected
across them some three years earlier to help counter any German invasion.

I
can vividly remember seeing the fireball some 500 yards from my bedroom window.
Two heavy farm horses in the nearby field were badly burnt, having been covered
in aviation fuel. One was recovered in a short time, the other bolted and was
not found until daybreak. One horse was put down; the other, after much care and
attention, recovered and went back to work but was virtually uncontrollable when
aircraft were about. The emergency services were at the scene almost on impact
but could do nothing. The aircraft had a round-the-clock guard until the bodies
were removed. George Marsh
[WS Nov 2004]

I have been
surprised to find that a number of residents who have lived here for several
years were not aware that the village has a war memorial. It is in fact the
lychgate at the main entrance to the parish churchyard. The names of those who
were killed are recorded on brass plaques mounted under the roof, on both the
front and the back. Though they are faded, they can still be read, and there are
possibly relatives or friends still living in the area. The lychgate memorial
was provided by the village in 1920 to carry the names of those lost in the
First World War; the Second World War plaque was added after 1945. The tiled
roof of the lychgate has, regrettably, been vandalised several times in recent
years, and the Parish Council has had it repaired. It is also sad that people
can live in a small village and not know where the war memorial is, indicating
perhaps that those who gave their lives did indeed give them in vain. Derek
Oakes Carlton le Moorland

Note:
Carlton le Moorland's War Memorial is not the usual stone monument or bronze
statue that is often the form that war memorials take, so it is not surprising
that our beautiful lychgate is not at first sight seen to be a monument; only on
closer inspection can the plaques be seen and the inscriptions read. Readers
would perhaps not all draw the same stark conclusion as Mr Oakes. There is a
further brass war memorial inside the church, re-sited from the former Wesleyan
Chapel. The Editor [WS Dec 2004]

@
@ @

Bassingham
War Memorials

A
recent letter to the editor prompts the question whether Bassingham’s war
memorials are fully appreciated:

The
obelisk of polished Aberdeen granite to the east of the church is engraved with
the names of 22 servicemen who died in the First World War (with the later
addition of the names of the four who died in the Second World War). It was
unveiled by Col. Royds in 1920 and cost, along with the railings and seats, £211.15s.0d,
paid for by public subscription, from 1 shilling (5p) upwards.

The
memorial to those who died in the Second World War is the Memorial Playing
Field, eight acres on Lincoln Road, which is home to the Bowls, Cricket,
Football and Tennis Clubs. Children’s play equipment was added too: a slide,
swings, king’s crown and witch’s hat roundabouts. Only recently has a sign
been erected, a beautiful mosaic, to show its origins.

A
public meeting in July 1945 unanimously agreed to purchase the land, and
planning permission had to be sought for change of use to a playing field. The
money was raised by individual donations and by many fundraising events to pay
off the loans. In 1955 it was transferred to the Parish Council.

There
is perhaps a tendency to take the playing field for granted. Many villages do
not have such an amenity, and we should indeed

Inside
the February 2005 magazine is a drawing by
Emily Usher aged 10. This drawing is of Church House which stands to the right
of the church gate. It is a Grade 2 listed building, listed as late sixteenth
century and is Bassingham’s only surviving stone cottage. This is probably
where the medieval rectory stood, first mentioned in 1218 as the “toft in which
Richard the parson lived” [The
Bassingham Story page 30]. [WS
Feb 2005]

The new
schoolroom was built In 1855 at the rear of the Methodist Church. The main room
had a raked floor and was heated by coke stoves. This school and the National
School (opposite St Michael's Church) were amalgamated in 1893. The Infant
department used the schoolroom for some time, and school dinners were cooked in
the room that is now the Witham Office until the new school was built on Lincoln
Road. The room was used by several organisations such as Brownies, Cubs,
Playgroup, and it was also used for Chapel events. In 1991 the schoolroom was
leased to North Kesteven District Council on a fifteen-year lease. The former
kitchen was used as a craft room and for washing up. The floor of the main room
was levelled in 1996 and divided in two, one part becoming an IT room. With the
decrease in its use as an IT centre, the room was changed into a craft room and
small kitchen, the existing craft room becoming the Witham Office serving the
local Upper Witham villages.

The District
Council has instigated and supported several arts projects in the village: the
bull seat on Stocks Hill was carved by Mark Folds; Arik Halfon trained a group
to produce mosaics, which can be seen in various locations around the village.
The large mosaic outside the Heritage Room depicts the once important local
industry of growing and preparing osiers for basket making. The panel on the
Bugle Horn wall shows the village parade that used to be part of the Sunday
School Anniversary. The Millennium Banner of worked needlework panels was
produced to show the various local activities. To celebrate the Queen's Golden
Jubilee, Lincoln artist Peter Moss trained a group that recently completed a
construction of carved brickwork that stands on Stocks Hill. So the old
schoolroom has a busy new life as a centre for local groups and activities, and
it is open daily.

The founder of
the only purely English religious order, Gilbert was born in 1083 the son of a
Norman knight who had land in the villages of Sempringham and West Torrington.
In 1100 his father, Jocelin, built the church of St Andrew on the site of an
earlier Saxon church. Gilbert was sent to be educated as a clerk in France and
returned to set up a school for boys and girls in Sempringham. In 1122 he was
employed by the Bishop of Lincoln as a clerk in his household. In 1129 he
returned to Sempringham as a priest, where in 1131 built accommodation on the
north wall of St Andrew's for seven women, having inherited his father's assets.
Then Gilbert de Gant gave Gilbert the valley land 350 yards to the south and
south-west of St Andrew's to build a Priory on, and in 1147 Pope Eugenius III
conferred the charge of the Order of Sempringham on Gilbert to rule the nunnery.
In 1148 Gilbert appointed canons to serve as priests. In 1164 Archbishop Thomas
Becket paid for a feast for the poor at the Monastery of St Andrew before
escaping from England with the help of the Gilbertines.

Gilbert died on
4th February 1189, aged 106 and was buried in the Priory Church of St Mary. He
was canonised by Pope Innocent III in 1202, thus becoming Saint Gilbert.

In 1283 Edward
I asked the Prior to admit Princess Gwenllian, daughter of Prince Llewellyn of
Wales, to the Order at Sempringham. The request was granted and Gwenllian was
held captive. (Edward wished to prevent any rival claim to Wales.) The next
year, the seven daughters of Prince David of Wales fell into the hands of Edward
I and were also held at Sempring-ham Priory.

There were
eventually thirteen Gilbertine houses, nine of which were monasteries for both
men and women, principally in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. They combined
religious vocation with social concern: leper hospitals, and orphanages were
founded by the Gilbertines. It all came to an end when all the Gilbertine houses
were destroyed at the Reformation.

Many
of us have seen Bassingham grow considerably over the last ten years or so. But
it's also interesting to discover how it has grown - and shrunk - at times in
the past. In 1802, for example, the population was 413. This crept up until by
1861 it numbered 927. Perhaps surprisingly, by 1939 it had dropped back to 564.
After this, however, the population continued to grow steadily and by the year
2001 stood at 1308.

We
take many amenities for granted and it may surprise some people to learn that
mains water and electricity didn't reach the village until the 1920s and 30s.
Three of the original outdoor communal water taps can still be seen: on Carlton
Road, Water Lane and High Street, having been saved by the Parish Council. Mains
sewerage was installed as late as 1965 - a major advance in public health at the
time. Efforts have been made to persuade the relevant authorities to bring mains
gas to Bassingham, but alas with no success so far!

John
Wesley was born on 17th June, 1703, the fifteenth child of Samuel Wesley, Rector
of Epworth in the north-west corner of Lincolnshire. John was educated at
Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford. He was ordained and acted for a time as
curate to his father. He then became fellow and tutor at Lincoln College,
Oxford. There he joined the Holy Club, a group of students that included his
brother Charles. They adhered strictly and methodically to religious precepts
and practices, visiting prisons and comforting the sick, and were thus
derisively called "methodists", a nickname that was eventually to be
borne with pride.

In
1735 Wesley went as a missionary to America. On the ship, he met some German
Moravians, whose simple evangelical piety greatly impressed him. On his return
in 1738, while attending a Moravian meeting in London, he experienced a
religious awakening that profoundly convinced him that salvation was possible
for anyone through faith in Jesus Christ.

In
April 1739, Wesley preached an open-air sermon in Bristol, and the enthusiastic
reaction of his crowd convinced him that open-air preaching was the way to reach
the masses. His emphasis on inner religion and assurance that each person was
accepted as a child of God had a tremendous popular appeal. It is estimated that
he covered almost 250,000 miles during the course of his ministry, mainly on
horseback. He preached over 40,000 sermons delivering as many as four or five
sermons a day.

In
1784 he ordained a minister for work in the United States. This led to an
inevitable break with the Anglican Church, though not until after Wesley's
death.

Wesley
was deeply concerned with the intellectual, economic, and physical well-being of
the masses. He was also a prolific writer on a wide variety of historical and
religious subjects. His books were sold cheaply, so that even the poor could
afford to buy them; thus he did much to improve the reading habits of the
general public. He aided debtors and those trying to establish businesses and
founded medical dispensaries. He opposed slavery and was interested in social
reform movements of all kinds. His influence on the English common people was
such that Methodism has been credited with averting a revolution in England
during the 19th century. In the latter years of his life the hostility of the
Anglican Church to Methodism had virtually disappeared, and Wesley was greatly
admired. He died March 2, 1791.

You're all familiar with the song, I think! To most it's a delightful
nonsense rhyme set to music. But it had a quite serious purpose when it
was written.
Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829, when Parliament finally
emancipated Catholics in England, were prohibited from any practice of their
faith by law - private or public. It was a crime to be a Catholic.

"The
Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England as one of the
"catechism songs" to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their
faith - a memory aid, when to be caught with anything in *writing* indicating
adherence to the Catholic faith could not only get you imprisoned, it could get
you hanged, or shortened by a head - or hanged, drawn and quartered, a rather
peculiar and ghastly punishment I'm not aware was ever practised anywhere else.

The
songs gifts are hidden meanings to the teachings of the faith. The "true
love" mentioned in the song doesn't refer to an earthly suitor, it refers
to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every
baptized person. The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge which feigns
injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings, much in memory of the
expression of Christ's sadness over the fate of Jerusalem: "Jerusalem!
Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered thee under my wings, as a hen does
her chicks, but thou wouldst not have it so..."

The
other symbols mean the following:
2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
4 Calling Birds = the 4 Gospels and/or the 4 Evangelists
5 Golden Rings = The first 5 Books of the Old Testament, the
"Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace.
6 Geese A-laying = the 6 days of creation
7 Swans A-swimming = the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, the 7 sacraments
8 Maids A-milking = the 8 beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing = the 9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords A-leaping = the 10 commandments
11 Pipers Piping = the 11 faithful apostles
12 Drummers Drumming = the 12 points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed

Now
that the days are lengthening, exploration of the surrounding countryside again
becomes a more general pastime. Those who are familiar with the Disney links in
the county will no doubt be aware of Kingerby in North Lincs. For others however
it is a delight still to come. From Lincoln on the A15, Kingerby can be reached
off the A631, as it progresses in the direction of Market Rasen.

Remote
is something that sadly few places can still lay claim to be. At Kingerby
however, this is still the case, even if mainly in an atmospheric sense.

Kingerby
is an ancient settlement area, having first been noticeably developed by the
Romans and subsequently the Vikings, much later 17th century dwellings still
exist in the area, notably Beech House, former vicarage. There are also a number
of stone curiosities it is best to discover for oneself!

The
Disneys of Norton Disney held the manor of Kingerby in the 14th and 15th
centuries. The village Church of St Peter is also the final resting place of
what are believed to be two Sir William Disneys, father and son. Their stone
tombs are resplendent with the forms of two 14th century knights, suitably
dressed in carved armour and other medieval trappings.

The
12th century church rises from the protection of evergreens and tall trees that
appear to whisper the secrets and sometimes violent history of ancient times.
Now however, it is a wonderfully peaceful place, bejewelled with tiny 14th
century stained glass windows depicting two Christian martyrs - St Catherine and
St. Cecilia. It is interesting that both the churches at Norton Disney and
Kingerby, linked by the D'isneys are both dedicated to St Peter. Did that Saint
have a particular importance for the Disney family, or for Lincolnshire -
perhaps others will know! St Peter's Kingerby is under the protection of The
Churches Conservation Trust.

You may have noticed that the Bassingham
clock is not chiming as it needs repair. We are all affected by time but we tend
to take for granted clocks which we see or hear daily. This is a brief story of
the clocks in Bassingham Church tower. In 1861 the Vestry accepted from General
Reeve the Church clock hitherto in the tower of Leadenham Church and this was
placed in the tower at Bassingham at a cost of £30. The present clock was fitted
at Queen Victoria’s 1887 Jubilee and the “movement” is unusual in being “mounted
on an inverted U-shaped cast iron frame.” The Midland Clock Works, Derby,
commented in 1978, “The only other example of this type of clock known to us is
at St. Nicholas' Church Kenilworth, William Potts and Sons, fixed their maker’s
name to the frame in 1887.”

Haddington Pond, presently
overgrown and almost invisible, is about to undergo a periodic „make-over‟
courtesy of Hill Holt Wood Rangers and students. When completed will again be a
pleasant, even an incidental feature in the passing scene – but this belies its
one much more important function in the early nineteenth century as a watering
place for cattle droves.

Mr. W. Lambe writes in the Lincolnshire
Chronicle of 9th April 1910, “Seventy years ago at times a very picturesque
sight may be seen here. Large quantities of Galloway and West Highland cattle
with their grand horns and shaggy coats, crossing the Trent before Gainsborough
and avoiding the Turnpike Gates, came past Torksey Castle and Otters Gibber to
Aubourn for the night” on route on the Drove Roads to markets in Norwich.

BASSINGHAM. Three or four
triumphal arches were erected and various Maypoles, profusely decorated with
evergreens and flowers, were placed at different parts.

The children were taken
round the village in carriages and wagons kindly lent by the parishioners,
singing all the while to the accompaniment of an excellent band. Afterwards
there was tea for the young folk and a thoroughly good knife and fork tea for
adults.

Sports of all kinds were
indulged in till dusk. About 10pm. there was supper, to which many went: others
going to Mr. Johnson's field, where they had a bonfire and some fireworks,
including rockets, only a dozen of which, however, were obtainable, such was the
demand for them in Lincoln.

Prisoners of War Living
at The Old Rectory, Bassingham?
An enquiry has been received from the son of Antonio Minniti asking about his
father's time at Bassingham. Please can you supply any information about this
person? I have received several enquiries about POWs at Bassingham - it would be
helpful if I could compile a list of names, where they worked and what happened
to them after the war and anecdotes about their time in this area. Antonio told
his family that he had nothing but good things to say about his years in
England. He was treated very well and enjoyed working on the farms.